Initial claims for state unemployment benefits fell 58,000 to a seasonally-adjusted 1.508 million for the week ended Jun 13. WASHINGTON, DC: The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell last week, but the pace of decline has stalled amid a second wave of layoffs as companies battle weak […]
Business
The World Trade Organisation has thrown out the final legal challenge to Australia’s tobacco plain packaging laws. Now more countries across the world can implement this game-changing public health policy, says a University of Sydney researcher. SYDNEY: The decision, handed down on Jun 9 by the World Trade Organization’s appeals […]
TOKYO: Japan lifted all coronavirus-related curbs on domestic travel on Friday (Jun 19), with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe calling on people to go sightseeing or attend concerts and other events to help the nation’s economy bounce back from a pandemic recession. Japan began lifting its pandemic lockdown in May as […]
SINGAPORE: Crowds were back at Singapore’s Orchard Road shopping district on Friday (Jun 19), with many customers eager to make purchases on the first day that retail outlets were allowed to reopen. As part of Phase 2 of Singapore’s reopening, physical shops were allowed to resume business after being shuttered […]
WASHINGTON: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Thursday underscored the importance of functional U.S.-China ties and urged Beijing to step up its purchases of U.S. goods and services as agreed under a Phase 1 trade deal despite delays caused by the coronavirus. The Chamber said the pandemic had clearly slowed […]
BRUSSELS: The European Commission is in advanced talks with pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson to reserve or buy up-front doses of its COVID-19 vaccine under development, two officials familiar with the talks told Reuters. The move would be the first arranged by the European Union executive since it was mandated […]
REUTERS: Ford Motor Co said on Thursday that it will offer hands-free driving on its new Mustang Mach-E in fall 2021, six years after Tesla Inc and four years after General Motors Co introduced similar systems. The system, called Active Drive Assist, will be offered on several Ford models, most […]
PARIS: The rescheduled 24 Hours of Le Mans in September will be condensed into a four-day timetable incorporating free practice, qualifying, warm-up and the race, organisers announced on Thursday. In the past, practice and qualifying has started on the Wednesday before the race but the 2020 race has been postponed […]
GUANGZHOU, China: The coronavirus has disrupted supply chains and demand across the global economy, but it is the prospect of Europe becoming a casualty in the US-China tech war that keeps the president of the European Chamber in China “awake at night”. “When two elephants dance it’s hard to stand […]
NEW DELHI: China’s Oppo cancelled the live online launch of its flagship smartphone in India on Wednesday (Jun 17) after a border clash between the two countries that has renewed calls from local Indian trader groups to shun Chinese products. Soldiers from India and China fought each other with nail-studded […]